Historical information

Graylings estate was purchased by Frederick Race Godfrey around 1872 on return of a family trip to England.

Reverend Gurney Goldsmith met Ethel Godfrey here while he was invited for lunch and rose her interest in the cause of the sailors. The Godfreys organised two picnics for sailors on their property, one in 1905 and one in 1910.

The estate was auctioned and subdivided in 1910 after Fredrick's death. But early the same year he had a second house built on the estate. A brick building that may be what is now the Graylings apartments.

According to electoral rolls, Ethel Godfrey and her sisters Frederica and Winifred lived at 95 Alma Road. Ferderica Godfrey, one of the earliest female student of Burnley Horticultural College (1899 or1900-1903) is thought to have created the landscaping of the Graylings gardens.

Physical description

Street signs in St Kilda East depicting the area surrounding the former Grayling estate owned by Frederick Race Godfrey until his death in 1910.